Concrete Ideas For Kitchen and Bath

With concrete emerging as a preferred building material, Concrete Countertops from The Taunton Press provides a blueprint for bringing concrete into bathroom and kitchen design.

The book features numerous step-by-step diagrams detailing techniques for creating concrete countertops. Each chapter is dedicated to a particular phase, from concept to installation. The most attention is given to curing and finishing concrete, and troubleshooting issues that might arise in the process.

Through his research, author Fu-Tung Cheng found that 212 variables must be controlled to pour and finish concrete effectively, and this can create problems in even the best-planned and -executed projects, but “the good news is that there’s a fix for just about every problem.”

Concrete Countertops (hardcover, 202 pages) can be purchased for $29.95 by calling The Taunton Press at 800/888-8262 or visiting the book’s official Web site, which features excerpts, sample pages and an “ask the author” section.

When sealing concrete, you can choose between penetrating sealers and topical sealers, depending on the countertop’s intended use and desired design effect. Author Fu-Tung Cheng says waxing sealed countertops once a month helps maintain the finish while building a protective layer. Photos courtesy The Taunton Press, from Concrete Countertops by Fu-Tung Cheng (2002).